Insatiable Outtakes
by snowandstarlight
Summary: Extra scenes from Insatiable, Precarious, and the as-of-yet untitled third installment in my next generation series


I've added this as a place to put extra scenes that I've written down that don't fit in the main story. So far I just have the one, but I might add more later!

Here's a missing scene that fits in between chapters 8 & 9 of _Insatiable_.

* * *

Jonathan pulled his coat tighter against the cold. The weather here was not so different from home, but tonight seemed especially biting. He would much rather be inside at the moment.

But no, he had a message to deliver. His team had been able to learn more about the threat they had been searching for on Earth. And now that he had promised to work with the new Guardians, they needed that information as well.

The obvious choice was to go to the Keeper. It was also the simplest option, as he knew where she lived. The street looked even brighter than it had the other night, the lights glowing against the backdrop of snow. It was very festive—he could see why the people here decorated their plants this way.

He knocked firmly on Isobel's front door. Fortunately, she was the one to open it—he wasn't sure how common it was here for people to show up at each other's homes.

She just looked at him for a long moment, seemingly not noticing the icy wind that slipped through the open door. Her feet were bare and the sleeves of her thin shirt pushed up to her elbows. By all rights she should have been cold.

"There's a doorbell," she said finally.

He had no idea what to make of this statement. The girl rolled her eyes and reached past the doorframe to press a glowing button that had been hidden by the decorative greenery. A chime sounded through the house. "It's louder than knocking," she explained.

He let another moment of silence pass, unsure where to start. "Is this a bad time? I have news."

"It's a good time, actually," she said. "My family's out at my brother's game, so it's just me." She stepped back from the doorway. "Here, come in."

This was overall a warmer welcome than he had expected, but then they did have a truce. He stepped inside so that she could close the door behind him. The house was comfortably warm. Its inside was decorated much like its outside, with garland along the bannisters and a large lit tree right in the front hall.

Isobel turned and headed further into the house, so he followed. He had seen the kitchen in passing the other day; now the dark counters were spread with flour. "I'm baking for Christmas," she explained when she saw him looking. "Sit down."

He obediently took a seat in one of the high chairs at the counter in the center of the room, watching as she returned to what she had been doing before he arrived. She was making some sort of pie, pouring filling that smelled of vanilla and brown sugar into a crust. This went in the oven first, followed by a tray of dough scraps.

Jonathan waited patiently for her to finish, deciding that angering her further was unwise. There was a stack of thin folded papers on the counter—newspapers. He tugged one over, scanning the front page. They had photographs in color, this world. This one showed an unhappy looking man in an orange shirt sitting in a wooden box.

He read the language well enough, but so much about Earth was still incomprehensible.

"Alright," Isobel said. "What's up?"

He looked up from the paper to find that she was standing across the counter from him, bent forward to rest her weight on folded arms. "While I was looking into you, the rest of my team used their own maps to scan for other traces of magic in this world. We believe that we found what we've been looking for." He pulled out his map. It had taken some reconfiguring of the spells on it. They had been looking for people, something alive, but that had been a mistake. He explained this to Isobel. "It's a fixed spot," he said. "A machine, we think, not an individual."

She frowned down at the map, placing her finger next to his. "So here," she said. "That's our target?"

"The location isn't perfect," he said. "It must be shrouded, whatever it is. We would have to search every inch of this area to find it." The spot looked tiny on the map, but it was large enough that it would likely require days.

Isobel nodded, a few strands of hair slipping loose from where it was tied back. "We'll figure out a way. Thank you."

The oven beeped and she spun to open it, pulling out the tray. The dough scraps were golden brown now. "Extra pie crust," she said, placing it on the counter and then slipping off the cloth mitts that she had been using to the protect her hands. "It tastes good tossed in cinnamon and sugar."

He grinned. "We do the same thing."

Her eyebrows went up. "Yeah?" She picked up a piece and blew on it, nudging the tray toward him in obvious invitation.

"The kitchen was everyone's favorite punishment chore," he said, picking up a scrap. They were small enough to cool quickly. "Cook always fed us the leftovers." He took a bite and then smiled. "I haven't had these in years."

They ate in a fairly comfortable silence for another few minutes, before Isobel glanced at the clock. "You should probably go," she said. "My family will be back soon, and I don't have a good explanation for this."

Jonathan nodded, folding up his map. "I'll be back, if we learn more."

"We'll keep you updated too," she said, and then frowned. "Although I guess we don't have a way to contact you in the other world, do we? It's not like we can get you a cellphone."

He had no idea what a 'cellphone' was, but decided not to comment.

"Hang on," Isobel said. "I have an idea."

Jonathan trailed her into a room towards the front of the house. There was a wooden chest of drawers in the furthest corner. She pulled open the top drawer and dug around.

Isobel emerged with two black plastic objects. They were each about palm sized, easy to hold one handed, with a two inch protrusion at one end. "We used to use these for skiing," she said. "Before we all had phones. I have no idea if they'll work across worlds but we might as well give it a shot."

She pulled out a pack of tiny cylinders, prying open the back of each object to place two inside. Then she handed one to him.

"What is it?"

"Walkie-talkies," she said. "They're short range radios, I guess. We should see if they work here first."

He stayed at the bottom of the stairs while she went up. Once she was out of sight, the object in his hand crackled to life.

 _"Testing_."

It was Isobel's voice, coming from the holes in the plastic. He stared down at it, unsure how to respond.

" _Hold the button down and then talk."_

He did so. "Hello?"

 _"Alright, they aren't dead at least_." Isobel came back down the stairs. "We'll have to test them once you get home." She glanced at the tree beside her. "I guess you guys don't have Christmas?"

The name had been unfamiliar until the past week, but it had been all anyone discussed at the school during his few days there. "We have Midwinter," he said. "It's a time to be with family, more than anything else."

"Not so different then." She turned away from the tree. "Happy Midwinter. I guess I'll see you back at school, unless anything happens before then?"

He nodded. "Happy…Christmas?"

She smiled. "Some people say it like that. Most people here say 'merry'. I'm not sure why."

"Merry Christmas, then."

When he got back, his sister was waiting for him. She was forever trying to convince him to tell her about his life, even though she knew that the Society closely guarded its secrets. Jonathan wondered, sometimes, if she regretted not following his path. But she seemed happy as she was. And she was safer this way.

It was only when he was getting ready for bed that he remembered what Isobel had given him. Making sure his door was closed, he pulled out the plastic object and held down the button. "Hello, Isobel?"

The response took longer this time. But then, just as it had before, the object in his hand started to crackle. _"Jonathan? Are you home?"_

"Yes."

 _"It works!"_ It was definitely the most joy he had ever heard in her voice (directed at him, anyway) and he had to smile. _"Keep that on you, okay? Just in case._ "

"I will. Goodnight, Isobel."

 _"Goodnight."_

* * *

Comments and suggestions are welcome as always. Thanks for reading!


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